Royals
by Tribias Preaton
Summary: Princess Beatrice of Prior is engaged to be married to Prince Tobias of Eaton. When they are about to fall in love, Prince Peter of Hayes makes the choice to court Beatrice. They must face many trials and tribulations to stay together. Will Peter come between them or will they're love come out on top? R
1. Meet Your Future Life

My name is Beatrice. I am 16 years old and the Princess of Prior. My brother, Caleb, is the prince. My father and mother, Andrew and Natalie, are the king and queen. All of the kings and queens of each kingdom are making alliances to unite the country as one. Last month, my parents told me that I am promised to be married to Tobias, the Prince of Eaton. Right now we are on our way to meet the King and Queen of Eaton, and my fiancé. I really don't know what to expect. I've never even seen a picture of him. My mother would only describe him to me. He is 6'0" tall which isn't very ideal considering I am only 5'2". He is 2 years older than me and has dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. My mother said he is quite handsome but I think I'll be the judge of that. The whole carriage ride there, I am silent. Ever since I found out about this arranged marriage, I have been anxious to see who I am spending the rest of my life with. Now that I am just minutes away from him, I want to run. Run so far away from everything. I want to marry who I want out of love, not arrangment. But I know I can't do that. I must fullfill my duties to my kingdom and the country.

We have finally pulled up to their castle. There are gaurds everywhere and security cameras in every corner. Its quite intimidating but I understand how much protection they need considering that he's an only child. I avert my wandering eyes from the defense system and see a tall man with pepper hair, and an average sized woman with dark brown hair. Next to them is a tall, handsome, young man wearing a black polo and khaki pants that I assume is Tobias. While the valet is helping my mother and I out of the carriage, I couldn't help but notice that Tobias is staring at me. Well, I knew that because I was staring him too, but its not a look like he's interested in me, but like he's trying to figure me out, unravel all me secrets and see the real me. The way I act in front of everyone is not the real me. Its what they expect and believe. If I had a choice, I would never wear a dress every again, I would eat junk food every day, and go on extravagant adventures every day. But I don't have that choice, and I may never have it.

When we are out of the carriage and situated, the elders greet eachother with warm salutations. I just focus on Tobias, and him me. This couldn't be anymore awkward.

"Marcus! Evelyn! A pleasure to see you again! Thank you for letting us stay over until the wedding!" My father says. At least now I know the names of his parents. Marcus nudges Tobias a little too hard to be subtle before he approches me.

"Princess Beatrice, it is delightful to finally meet my future wife." He says as he takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. I don't know why but, his touch feels comforting and almost protective. Even though this is the first time I am meeting him, I feel as if I've known him forever. His lips have not left my knuckles yet and we have not broken eye contact yet. His eyes have so much emotion and feeling but his face remains stoic. He finally drops my hand and stands straight up.

"I could say the same, Prince Tobias. And please, call me Tris." I see him smile a very small smile. I might not have even noticed it if I wasn't staring at him so much. His smile is imediately relinquished when his father speaks to him.

"Tobias! Why don't you show Tris around the castle while the rest of us catch up?" I give him a frail smile for using my preffered name. They way he spoke to Tobias sounds more like a command instead of a friendly suggestion. This guy seems kinda off, but I'll ignore it because he is my fiancé's father.

The fathers head off to the golfing course, and the mothers off to the tea room. That just leaves me and Tobias standing just inside the gates of the kingdom. We stand there for a couple of awkward seconds, looking around at everything except eachother.

"So what would you like to do, Milady?" He sounds much more relaxed now, than when we were with our parents.

"I don't know, what do you usually do here?"

"Well, we could go horseback riding on the trail by the beach?"

"Oh what a romantic suggestion, but I've never ridden a horse." I say with a playful smirk. I feel as if I can be myslef around him, like I don't need to pretend to be a princess because honestly, I'm not. I'm not a princess, I'm just good at acting like one. I have a feeling that he's not a prince too.

"That's okay, we can ride double." He says witha sincere smile. With that, he grips my hand and entwines our fingers. He leads me to the back of the garden where there is a large stable. Every so often he would glance back at me and smile. He seemed happy that I was here, despite that fact that we are basically complete strangers. We reach the stable and walk in. There are about 15 horses in the stable. We walk in the median of the horses all the way to the back. We approach a pitch black horse with a stark white diamond on its forehead. Its mane is in perfect loose curls. This had to be the most beautiful horse I've ever seen.

"This is a beautiful horse." I said as I pet its snout.

"Thanks. Her name is Bea. I picked her out when I was 12 and took care of her ever since." He said without looking at me. He just stared at the horse and stroked its forelock. You could see in his eyes how much he cared about this horse. I chuckled at the name, Bea. Did he name his horse after me? We didn't even know eachother 6 years ago.

"Why'd you name her Bea?" I ask. I was also about to ask he named it after me but I decided against it.

"Her full name is Beauty, but I just call her Bea. And because I named her after you." He says sheepishly. He grabs a saddle and opens the little gate in front of Bea. I was a bit flattered that he liked my name enough to name it after a horse. Horses require majestic names and he chose mine. I watch as he latches the saddle to Bea's back. His deft fingers move quickly as he tightens the buckle. As soon as he's done, he guides me to the horse and lifts me up by the under arms. He gently place me on the back half of the saddle then he jumps on the front half.

"Here, just hold on to me. Horse back riding is bumpy." He says. He takes my hands and places them on his stomach. I lean forward a bit to make it easier. He is so warm and I can feel his abs under my finger tips. I become a bit stiff with this contact because I've never been this close to someone. We weren't very big on hugging back at home. The only time we would hug is on holidays, birthdays, and deaths. I feel he becomes stiff too. He probably never rode double with someone. I soon relax and he does too. He grabs the reins and we head out of the stable. He follows a thin trail that leads out to the beach. The ride is really bumpy. I hold on to him tighter to make sure I don't fall. I feel his stomach twitch indicating that he is laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" I ask.

"I find it funny how you think I'm gonna let you fall, because I'm not. I'm not gonna let you fall, or let anything bad happen to you. I want to keep you safe." I smile even though he can't see my face right now. His words warm my stomach. Even though we met for the first time half an hour ago, and exchanged no more than 100 words, he wants to protect me. Maybe I will fall in love with him, and he will fall in love with me. Despite not being the prettiest or tallest, or smartest princess. I snap out of my reverie and ask him, "Where are we going again?"

"I'll show you when we get there." He answers. I decide to stop talking and just wait till we get there. I relish in the warth being emitted from his body and doze off into a light sleep.


	2. The Chasm

I wake up to the sound of harsh waves hitting rocks. The sound is calming, but loud enough to awake me. We are still on the horse be we have stopped. When he turns around to look at me, I lean back. I hadn't realized I was using his back as a pillow. When I can finally see his face, I see a smile.

"Sorry for using you as a pillow. Were you waiting for me to wake up?" I ask.

" I don't mind, you were actually keeping me warm. And no, we just got here." He replies.

I was keeping him warm? Does he like it when I hug him? Is he actually content with me being his future wife? I don't know what he meant by those words, but I'm just overthinking it. 'It meant you kept him warm dummy. That's it.' I told myself.

He jumps off the horse and waits for me to climb down. I swing my right leg over to the left side so I'm sitting sidesaddle. I start slipping off of the horse. When my knees are about to hit the sharp rocks, Tobias hands catch me by my elbows. His thumb is pressed into my inner elbow. His skin is unbelievable warm. For a moment, I let myself get lost in his quixotic, sea colored eye. He looks at me too. Well, not me, but my eyes. I don't understand why, but I see a world of hurt in his eyes. How could he every be hurt? He's a prince.

We both compose our posture and he pulls his hands back. He clears his throat awkwardly and says "Uh, come on. Follow me." I start walking and he grabs my wrist, genlte pulling me behind him. Ever since we got here, I wasn't able to take in my surroundings until now. We are in a dark cave with a huge river running in the middle of it. We walk farther into the cave and sit at the edge, our feet danggling off the edge. I look up and see little cracks in the ceiling of the cave, letting little light shine through. Its not a lot of light, but its just enough to give his face an eeire glow. My mother was right, he is handsome. He may even be to handsome for me. I'm not all that pretty, but he looked like the definition of perfect. Maybe he is, I'll have to find out soon.

"This is amazing. How'd you find this place?" I ask.

"The day I got my horse, I went riding around for hours. And I found this place and came here ever since. Its nice and secluded for when I just want to get away from all the royalty, you know?" I do know. When I wanted some peace, I'd climb down my window and go to an abondoned shed next to the babbling brook, just outside the castle.

I nod and tell him about the shed.

"You want to play the question game?" He asks

"Uh, yeah sure. You go first."

"Okay, when did you find out about the engagment?"

"Last month. What about you?"

"Same. Okay my turn again."

"Hey! You skipped me!"

"No I didn't. You asked, 'What about you?' That was your question." I could see him smirking in the dim light. I knew he was just joking, but I wanted my turn.

"That was not what I wanted to ask. So I get to go, again." I state pointedly.

"Heh, okay. Whatever you say Tris." Tris? Who's Tris?

"What did you call me?"

"Tris. It suits you more. Beatrice is too posh and princessy. No offense but, I don't like princessy princesses. The name Tris sounds like the way you look. And one syllable names are way cooler." He's right. I never liked the name Beatrice. It sounds stuck up and like the name of my late great grandmother. I never thought about giving myself a nickname. I like Tris.

"One syllable names? Your'e right. They are cooler, To-bi-as." We share a small laugh and I continue.

"How much did they tell you about me." I ask.

"Not much, just your name, age, and what you look like."

"Yeah, that's all they told me too." It's silent for 20 seconds until his questions catches me off gaurd.

"How do you feel about this arranged marriage?" What? I don't know how I feel anymore. Before I met Tobias, I felt trapped. I wasn't free to make my own choices. My whole life was laid out in front of me, but I wanted to make my own trail. Right now at this moment, I feel like this won't be as bad. Maybe we will fall in love. Just by the way he looks at me, and the feeling I get when we touch. It feels right, like its meant to be, like we're meant to be. But I don't know. It's just a gut feeling, or maybe I'm just hungry. My stomache grumbles so I make a quick answer to cover up the sound.

"Um, I don't know how I feel. I just know that we don't have a choice." He chuckles and stands up, pulling me up with him.

"Sounds like you're hungry. We have to be getting back for dinner before you kill me for meat." I punch his arm lightly and he helps me onto the horse. He hops on the front and says, "Can I ask you another question?"


	3. How Do I Look?

"Uh, yeah sure. Go for it." I say.

"Do you actually want to marry me? Because I would totally understand if you don't." He says.

"I don't really know the answer to that question. You are really good looking but I don't know much about you and I don't really have a choice whether or not I want to marry you."

"Oh, so I'm good looking huh?" He says with a cocky smirk and raised eyebrows. I playfully shove him forward on the horse and say, "Don't act like you didn't know that. You probably look at yourself in the mirror and gawk at your 'hotness' every morning." He leans forward and touches his lips to my forhead. I feel like I'm about to turn into lava.

"I never got to tell you what I think about the way you look." He says.

"Just spare your words, I already know I'm not that pretty." I know I'm not pretty, and I don't need my future husband to remind me of that.

"Your'e right. Your'e not pretty." Even though I already knew those words were true, it stilled crushed me. Then he continued to speak, "Pretty doesn't describe you well enough. Your'e absolutely radiant. Breathtakingly gorgeous. When I look at you, I feel like I'm not in reality anymore. Your'e so beautiful, it should be allowed on this material plane." I don't know how to respond to that. After he said such beautiful words, it would be ludicrous to agrue. He almost make me believe him. Almost. Before I know what happens next, his lips are on mine. Iv'e never been kissed before due to being engaged my whole life, but it feels so natural. As soon as I open my eyes, his lips leave mine. My lips are still tingling and I can't help but smile. He turns back around and the horse starts to gallop across the beach. I wrap my arms around him from behind and lay my head on his back, feeling him take deep breaths as I start to fall asleep again.

Just as I wake up, we are entering the stable. He helps me off and puts Bea back in her corral. He holds out a hand and I take it. We walk back into the castle to get ready for dinner. He escorts me to my room and says, "I'll be back in ten minutes to show you to the dining room." He kisses my forhead and walk down the hall, glancing back every so often to see if Iv'e gone into my room yet. I walk in after he looks back a third time. The room is quiet large. The walls are painted a very light gray with white royal patterns. There's a king sized bed with white comforters and pillows. The drawers and wardrobes are black with intricate detailing. I open the wardrobe and find that all of my clothes are already in there. I throw on a baby blue dress that stops just above my knees and slip my feet into black peek-toes heels. I walk into the en suite look in the mirror. I look tired so I splash my face with cold water and pull my hair into a top knot. I redo my makeup with some face powder and mascara. I take one more look in the mirror before I wait for Tobias to knock. Two minutes later I hear a knock on the door. I jump up and rush to answer it. There stands Tobias wearing a light blue botton down and black slacks.

"It appears we are matching." He says with a sly smile.

"It appears we are. Now come on! Bring me to the dining room. I'm starving!"

"How demanding you are." He says jokingly, "My parents made the chefs prepare a big feast since your family is here, you can eat as much as you want."

"I'm pretty sure I already do that." I say with a slight chuckle. He takes my hand and laces our fingers. He leads me to the dining room in a soothing silence.


	4. These Scars

**Tobias POV**

We arrive at the dining hall to see our parents waiting for us before eating.

"Tobias! Beatrice! How nice of you to finally join us!" Evelyn says. We sit down at the table across from eachother. I stay quiet while the adults are talking and just stare at Tris. This may sound really cliché but, it was love at first sight. From the moment I laid eyes on her, something inside me changed. I felt this weird sensation in every muscle in my body. She was the most beautiful girl in the world and I didn't need to see anyone else to know that. When I saw her, I became happy that we were engaged. I didn't have to worry about anyone else taking her away. I could take as much time as I needed to make her fall in love with me. Then I thought, How can she love you? You're a broken boy that can't even defend himself from his own father. How could you be able to protect her? All these negative thoughts start flooding into my mind until I can't take it anymore. I stand up abruptly and excuse myself from the table. How could I actually lead myself to believe that she could every love me? I'm just a weak little boy who cowers at the sight of his father. I let my feet guide me and I end up at an old well in the courtyard. I look into the well and see the moon's relfection in the water. I hear light footsteps coming from behind me but I don't bother to turn around.

"Tobias. What's wrong?" Tris. I admire the fact that she asked, What's wrong, rather than, Are you okay? Anyone with eyes could see that I'm not okay. I was planning to show her this another time but, this time is as good as any.

"I want to show you something." I tell her as I turn around to face her. Her face looks lunimous under the moonlight and her eyes are fluorescent. Whenever I see her, I'm just blown away by her beauty. I start unbuttoning my shirt and I see her eyes show confusion. When I'm done with the last botton, I take off my shirt, hang it over the edge of the well, and turn around. I hear her gasp and feel her nimble fingers tracing the scars on my back from years of abuse by Marcus.

"Tobias, who is doing this to you?" I can hear the tears in her voice. It makes me a little happy to know that she cares.

"My father," I say, though I don't consider him to be. "He used to abuse me because I would never live up to the standards he expected from me. I was never good enough so he punished me. But ever since you came here, I've been feeling relaxed and calm. You're my escape from reality." It's true. When she is around me, I forget about everything. The past, present, and future. I just focus on her. When I turn to face her, she wraps her frail arms around my torso. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. The feel of her bare arms on my bare skin is exhilarating. For someone so small, she is so warm. We stay that way for a few more minutes until she tilts her head up to look into my eyes. I can't help myself anymore, so I lower my head and press my lips to hers. Her lips are baby soft and I could kiss them all day. She makes me feel at peace, like there is nothing wrong with life.

"Do you want to do something fun tomorrow?" I ask after we break the kiss.

"Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"It'll be a surprise." And with that, I pull my shirt back on, drape an arm over her shoulder, and escort her back to her room.

**Sorry the chapters are getting shorter and shorter! Next chapter I may be introducing other characters. Tell me who you want me to include and what they should do! I'll take everyone's ideas into consideration. Updating tomorrow!**


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